Process of treating ingots.



H. W. HIXON.

PROCESS OF TREATING INGOTS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9, 1914.

1,130,513. Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

WITNESSES v M! VEIV TOR /7//F/7M 14 /'//x0/\ BY Mo a/1%,

2/ A TTORNEYS HE NORRIS PETERS 50.. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C.

HIRAM W. I-IIXON, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF TREATING INGO'lS'.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Application filed April 9, 1914. Serial No. 830,726.

T 0 all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, HIRAM W. HrxoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have made certain new and useful Improvements 1n Processes of Treating Ingots, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the process of treating ingots, my more particular purpose being to produce ingots so as to avoid the formation of blow holes and pipe and to render the metal dense, smooth and readily adapted for rolling.

As is well known in this art, metals such as steel, when melted and formed into ingots, absorb large quantities of gases, and during the act of solidifying, the gases are expelled. The result is that the ingots are apt to contain niunerous blow holes and pipe, and the top surface of the ingot 1s frequently of a spongy character.

Sometimes ingots after being cast, and before cooling, have been subjected to intense pressure for the purpose of expellmg gases and rendering the ingots dense. Thls method, however, as generally employed, has the disadvantage that the molds containing the ingots are subjected to intense heat and great pressure at the same time, the result being that the up-keep of the molds is rendered comparatively difficult and unduly expensive.

The main object of the present invention is to produce comparatively dense and solid ingots without necessitating the employment of compressing molds.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in which like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View showing one of the various means of handling the ingots, Fig. 2 shows a device for compressing an ingot, and Fig. 3 is a section through an ingot showing the means for determining the time at which pressure should be applied.

A tramway is shown at 1 and a car at 2. Guideways 3 lead to a press formed by uprights 4: which support a top plate 5. A hydraulic plunger 6 is disposed in position to engage an ingot 7 for subjecting the latter to pressure. It will be observed that the top of the plunger which engages the ingot is rounded as shown at 6".

The ingots 7 are cast in the usual manner. The molds in which they are cast are stripped off and the ingots are placed on cars, such as that shown at 2, and run on the tramway into position before the guides 3. The ingots are then taken off by a traveling crane or jib-crane in the same order in which they are cast, and placed on the guides 3. A pusher, not shown, forces the first ingot into the press. Here it is subjected to compression from the bottom by means of the plunger 6- and remains in the press only long enough to allow compression to take place to a point which observation and experience determines that further compression would be unnecessary.

To determinethe time that should elapse between casting and compression for each size of ingots it is necessary to break the ingots under a heavy drop or split them with a planer after compression. In case they are broken by a heavy drop hammer they would not need to be compressed before breaking, as the breaking is merely to determine thethickness of the solid walls and the size of the'liquid interior after various periods of time from casting to breaking.

It will be necessary to know the precise time at which to apply the compressing force, since this compression must take place before the ingot has completely solidified and after the outer walls of the ingot have solidified sufliciently to resist fracture under the compressing force. In Fig. 3 I have shown a cross section through an ingot 7 in which a liquid interior 8 is'shown. The ingots will develop pipe shown in dotted lines at 9 as long as there is any liquid interior, and therefore it is the object of the process to compress as near the moment of final solidification as possible in order to have the ingots in the presses the shortest possible time, and thereby increase the capacity of the presses.

The purpose ofthe rounded end of the plunger 6 is to force up the bottom so as to force the liquid 8 into the pipe. As stated before compression from the bottom of the ingot upward will force the liquid interior up into the pipe. The segregate which accumulates in the pipe will be lifted to the top of the ingot where it can be cut off with the minimum of crop.

It will be observed that the solid shell of the ingot will perform all the functions of a mold Without the expense of molds or the necessity oi: putting them on or taking them oif again.

After the ingot has been compressed another ingot is pushed into the press by the pusher and forces the compressed ingot out Copies 0': this patent may be obtained for derstood as meaning that state of the fused metal, up to the point of final solidification.

l. claim: The herein described process of treating ingots, Which consists in compressing the opposite ends of the ingot after the outer portions voi? the ingot have solidified and While the interior portion is in a liquid state.

HIRi'iM W. HIXQN. Witnesses W. SHERWOOD CROWL, C. A. Fosrnn.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0, 

